Showing posts with label debut novel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label debut novel. Show all posts

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Debut Support Is Not A Training Bra

by Mindy McGinnis


It's done. I did it. And I survived.

My debut novel, NOT A DROP TO DRINK is out in the world as of last Tuesday. Release week was doubly insane, as I was going on a national tour (Dark Days) with a group of Harper YA authors. Life was hectic, my laundry was out of control - but of course no clean underwear - I was eating takeout and pizza and not washing my hair enough.

I also had revisions for my 2014 release due before I left.

And I was about to be in the spotlight.

Every day I was answering two to three requests for interviews, then tweeting or promoting them. Somehow I managed to keep my own blog running, finish my revisions, work 40 hours a week, get a pedicure, and pack to leave for a whirlwind four-cities-in-four-days tour with a group of veteran writers, two of whom had hit the NYT on the release weeks just a month earlier.

Honestly, it was wonderful. I've always said I thrive on chaos, and I guess Fate decided to make me prove it. But what got me through wasn't necessarily my own chutzpah, or the Emergen-C I started guzzling at the first signs of a head cold.

It was the support of groups like this one, along with the Class of 2k13, Friday the Thirteeners, my fellow debut authors who crossed this bridge earlier in 2013 than me, and also the veteran authors who I'm lucky enough to know in person and are cool with me asking the hard questions.

Publishing is a small industry - really small. Everyone knows everyone, and they'll know you soon too. First impressions are important, and I'd like to think I made a pretty good one, with the support of everyone around who knows me than I do, and doesn't mind sharing.

So thanks, everyone who talks to me, answers questions, and basically gives a shit that I'm here.

You're awesome.
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Mindy McGinnis is a YA author and librarian. Her debut, NOT A DROP TO DRINK, is a post-apocalyptic survival tale set in a world where freshwater is almost non-existent, available from Katherine Tegen / Harper Collins September 24, 2013. She blogs at Writer, Writer Pants on Fire and contributes to the group blogs Book Pregnant, Friday the Thirteeners, From the Write Angle, The Class of 2k13, The Lucky 13s & The League of Extraordinary Writers. You can also find her on Twitter, Tumblr & Facebook.

Monday, June 10, 2013

The Road to Publication Is A Long & Bumpy One

by Erin Cashman

I gained a lot of weight with my first pregnancy. So much that I closed my eyes during weigh-ins at the doctor’s office. I didn’t want to know the numbers on the scale. After I had my third child, I started dieting and exercising, and after many months of limiting my chocolate and ice cream intake (torture!), enduring aerobic classes, power walks, etc., I finally lost most of the weight. Many people asked me how I did it. Surely I knew some secret. A half a grapefruit before meals? Eating anything I wanted but stopping at 4? Eating only purple food? No one wanted to hear the truth. Lately several people have asked me about how I became published. But, like my weight loss, what they really want to know is what’s the secret. These writers (and I used to be one of them) have written a book, queried countless agents and editors, and still have no publishing deal. There must be a secret they don’t know about. Well, I’m here to tell you that there isn’t. The road to publication is a long one, filled with pot holes, detours, and road blocks.

My debut novel, The Exceptionals, was published last year. It was my third finished novel. It took eight long years from the date I started writing my first novel until my third one was published. And six years of writing, revising and editing two different manuscripts, querying agents and submitting partial and fulls until The Exceptionals sold. I asked the writers here at Book Pregnant what their experiences were. Most of us have written at least one other (often several other!) book that never was published. So, like me, our “debut” novel is really our third, fourth, fifth . . . you get the idea. Several BPers (as we call ourselves) found an agent, but the agent couldn’t sell that manuscript. One author worked on writing and revising her book for seventeen (yes, seventeen!) years. Two different agents tried to sell her manuscript but were unable. Finally she sold it herself. Another worked on her novel for eleven years, and she had two different agents and two different editors. In fact, many of the authors in this blog have had more than one agent. As Lydia Netzer, author of Shine, Shine, Shine told me: “Shine was not my first book, or even my second or third, that I got through a FIRST draft of, however it was the first book I got to a FINAL draft of.”  One writer told me that the reason he thinks his debut novel (not his first finished manuscript) sold was that he had thirty years of rejection behind him, to learn from.

And that’s the key. To learn from the rejections. Maybe the novel needs more revising, maybe the plot is too convoluted, maybe the characters aren’t compelling enough. Take a long, hard look at your book and try to find areas for improvement. Why do I tell you all this? To depress you? No. Exactly the opposite. There is no trick. There is no a secret that we published authors know that you don’t. If you hope to be published one day, work tirelessly on your manuscript. Revise and edit, and then revise and edit again. Join a critique group or find a critique partner if you can, a fresh set of eyes (not a friend, or a family member, but another writer!) can make a huge difference. Sometimes I know the story I’m writing so well that it’s hard for me to see the problems with it. Read everything you can get your hands on. Devour books. It will help you “know” if something doesn’t ring true or is stale or cliché. And most importantly, don’t give up.  We didn’t!
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Erin Cashman is a YA author. Her debut fantasy novel, THE EXCEPTIONALS, was published by Holiday House in 2012 and named a Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year. You can find her at the group blogs The Enchanted Inkpot, BookPregnant Blog, and on Twitter, Facebook, and her Website

Monday, February 18, 2013

The 36-Month Pregnancy

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By Julie Kibler

The average gestational period for a chipmunk is 21 days. No wonder they speak with such squeaky little voices.

For a kangaroo it's 42, though the joey moves into the mother's pouch for another two to three hundred days.

For a lion cub, it's 108.

For a woolly little lamb, it's 150.

Gorillas and hippos and moose (meese?) are close to human gestational periods at about 225 to 260 days.

Human babies? 266.

In all three of my human pregnancies, my average 255 or so days of lugging each little one around inside my uterus seemed like FOR. EH. VER.

Little did I know I would carry my unborn book around for much longer than that. For the length of FOUR human pregnancies.
I think I look pretty good for having just given birth to a book after a 36-month pregnancy.

Indeed, from the time I began my outline until Tuesday, February 12, when my book baby, Calling Me Home, popped, it was 36 months. Except, I had--more or less--two semesters, because I don't even want to count the trimesters if we're talking three-month intervals.

I outlined, wrote, and revised for 18 months. I sold the book, and performed my part of the tasks related to growing it from sold manuscript to real book baby in 18 months.

But I will tell you that all the backaches (revisions), the constant bladder pressure (copy edits), the heartburn (page proofs), the mistaken sonograms (changed covers), the swollen feet and ankles (checking amazon rank 432 times per day), and--most of all--the labor pains (writing about yourself in interviews and Q&As until you can't remember your own name, much less anything interesting you haven't already said four times) don't mean a thing when it comes down to one moment in time:

The moment you stand before your family and friends and see the joy and pride and LOVE in their eyes.




My book launch, last Tuesday evening at Barnes & Noble in Arlington, Texas, ranks right up there with the BEST days of my life.

I had an amazing labor nurse--I only met her shortly before Calling Me Home hit the nursery, but Jessica Prigg was the nicest, most gracious Community Relations Manager I could have worked with. She even provided a box of tissues to keep handy at the lectern.

My critique group looks on as I read
from Calling Me Home
Because I did cry. I think the only other time I've truly cried with joy during this long, long journey was when I called my oldest child to tell him I'd sold my book. I think that's significant, considering he was the first human baby who made me cry tears of joy.

Tuesday night, the tears started when one of my beloved critique partners from my group blog, What Women Write, asked if I was nervous shortly before the event began. When I nodded, she leaned in for a hug and whispered in my ear:

"You've got it. And if you fall, we'll catch you. We always do."

My best friend Gail and me, next to cake and flowers
from her and my critique group
What author could ask for more than that? I mean, besides well over a hundred friends, family members, former bosses and coworkers, church members, neighbors, book club members, people from my dentist office, and the list goes on ... there in the delivery room, simply to encourage and support and listen to me (ME!) talk about a story I wrote with no guarantee this day would ever happen.

I realized, as I stood before these people, that NOTHING else mattered when it comes to this book. Not the sales numbers, the Amazon ranks, the lists, the magazine or news coverage, the good or bad reviews--the good times and the bad times, whatever was and is to come for Calling Me Home.

All of that pales in comparison.

What mattered was right there in front of me.







Photo credits: Rick Mora

Thursday, January 10, 2013

An Open Letter to Debut Authors: Five Things to Consider



Dear Debut Author,

 A year ago, when I launched my debut novel , I told myself that I would throw myself into the next twelve months and do all I could with the resources I had to bring my babe into the world. It’s been a wild and crazy ride (as Steve Martin might say).  These past twelve months, I’ve felt emotions in concentrated, hyper-potent doses. I’ve been wistful, happy, and everything in between; seasoned by all the events and people I’ve met, mistakes and victories I’ve experienced. I’m both sober and inebriated. I have a long way to go, and much to learn, but I hope you’ll consider these five things as you step into your debut year.

Thing #1 – Delight, enjoy and celebrate your launch.  You’re a debut author once. That’s it. Embrace your accomplishment.  Give yourself time to breathe in your feelings of pride and happiness—yes—happiness!  If you have to disappear into your bedroom closet to shout, do it! Hug your old clothes. Spill your pent up tears. If you start blubbering with gratitude because a bird landed on your front walk, ride the sensation—sob away. Be a sentimentalist. Be melodramatic with joy. You’ve worked hard to achieve this, harder than most people will ever understand. 

Thing #2 – Pace yourself. You will reach stations of utter exhaustion, moments when you are overwhelmed, and confused. You will tell yourself not to complain. You will tell yourself: This is my dream, how can I stop pushing, doing, trying every day?  Well, here’s a silly joke:  

“Knock. Knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“Human.”

“Human who?”

“Human who needs sleep. Human who needs routines. Human who needs healthy foods to function at debut author speed.”

Seriously. You will push harder than you thought you could. But, you will hit that wall of fatigue. You won’t know you’ve bumped into it until your head hurts and your mind is whizzing around Venus—hot and fiery. That’s when I’d like to suggest you take a break, a few days off to parent yourself.  Don’t worry. You’ll be back at it. You’ll book another reading; you’ll write another blog post, you’ll answer more q&a’s, but you must pause or you will burn up.  Your psyche will disintegrate. Respect the demands of your particular lifestyle, family and financial constraints. Surround yourself with people who make you feel good, who want the best for you.  You are the boss of your life.

Thing #3 – Beware of Goodreads Reviews. (Okay. Laugh.)  Every author I talked to forewarned me: “Goodreads is particularly nasty,” they said. “Not everyone will love your book.”  You will listen and nod and be grateful for the cautionary advice, but privately you will want to be that one exception.  You won’t be.  No one is. Not Dickens. Not Jane Austen. Not YOU.  You will get that cranky, stupid review, the one where a reader can’t or won’t understand your character, will refuse to understand why your book has swears or sex. My cheap advice?  Don’t engage. Let those nasty reviewers fade away. Most will. (You can always vent with fellow authors. They will happily vent with you.)

Thing #4 – Let surprises…surprise you.  A reader you’ve never met will fall in love with your book, rave about it, pass it on to his or her friends, blog about it, cheer you on Twitter and Facebook.  It’s not a fluke.  It’s what you hoped for but it will still come out of the blue, unexpected and thrilling. It’s one of the most wondrous events, a gift from heaven designed especially for authors.  Soak it in. 


Thing #5 – Do everything in your power not to compare yourself with other writers and their books.  Comparing is an animal that seeks out sink holes, swamps and depression.  You’ll follow it anyway. But keep a tight leash on it. Life is fickle. Readers and reviewers are inconsistent. But you can remain constant about yourself.  Don’t compare. Just don’t.

Now, return to Thing #1 - Delight, enjoy and celebrate your debut year.  Congratulations! 

Warm wishes and good luck!

Jessica Keener   
Author of Night Swim

Friday, December 14, 2012

The Bouncing Babies of 2012: Coming Soon to a Stocking Near You?

This was the year that Book Pregnant made its debut with...book debuts. The first batch of babies was born, and how. We've published everything from literary fiction to historical thrillers to romantic tales to  coming of age stories to memoirs. We met bookstore owners and reviewers; we read our work before people who wanted to listen; we signed title pages and responded to readers. It was all pretty amazing. 

Now, as the year draws to a close, we're doing a group giveaway. We want you to share in what we've accomplished! Scroll through our books, and then sign up for a giveaway in the comments section. You can ask for a specific book (we can mail a book within the United States) and leave your email address so we know how to contact you. This giveaway commences Dec 14 and ends Dec 30.

Oh and watch this space for the babies of 2013. We've got some beauts. :)

Meet the class of 2012:

Fobbit, by David Abrams


In the satirical tradition of Catch-22 and M*A*S*H, Fobbit takes us into the chaotic world of Baghdad’s Forward Operating Base Triumph. The Forward Operating base, or FOB, is like the back-office of the battlefield – where people eat and sleep, and where a lot of soldiers have what looks suspiciously like an office job. Male and female soldiers are trying to find an empty Porta Potty in which to get acquainted, grunts are playing Xbox and watching NASCAR between missions, and a lot of the senior staff are more concerned about getting to the chow hall in time for the Friday night all-you-can-eat seafood special than worrying about little things like military strategy. 



"[T]his darkly comic novel is a slice of awesome. Like the best writing of M*A*S*H, it is true dark comedy in that it reinforces how unpleasant life can be for soldiers, and how ridiculous, funny, and stupid life can be. And it reminds us how cheap life is; how cheap American lives are."
--Library Journal

"[T]hese Dickensian characters are all so skillfully wrought that we quickly accept their idiosyncrasies....What’s most intriguing about this work is that, at its center, it is both a clever study in anxiety and an unsettling expose of how the military tells its truths. Fobbit traces how 'the Army story' is crafted, the dead washed of their blood, words scrutinized, and success applied to disasters."
--The Washington Post

http://www.davidabramsbooks.com/
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At the Mercy of the Queen, by Anne Barnhill


A sweeping tale of sexual seduction and intrigue at the court of Henry VIII, AT THE MERCY OF THE QUEEN is a rich and dramatic debut historical about Madge Shelton, cousin and lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn.


"An absolutely splendid read!" Diane Haeger, author of I, Jane.

"Fresh and absorbing." Sara Poole, author of Poison





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The Crown, by Nancy Bilyeau

Joanna Stafford, a Dominican nun, learns that her favorite cousin has been condemned by Henry VIII to be burned at the stake. When she defies the rule of enclosure, Joanna along with her father is arrested for interfering with the king's justice and imprisoned. While Joanna is in the Tower of London, the ruthless Bishop of Winchester forces her to spy for him: to save her father’s life she must find an ancient relic—a crown so powerful, it may possess the ability to end the Reformation. With Cromwell's troops threatening to close her priory, Joanna must decide who she can trust so that she may save herself, her family, and her sacred way of life. 




"A stunning debut. This is one of the best historical novels I have ever read"-- bestselling historian and novelist Alison Weir


“Bilyeau deftly weaves extensive historical research throughout, but the real draw of this suspenseful novel is its juicy blend of lust, murder, conspiracy, and betrayal.” – O, The Oprah Magazine


www.nancybilyeau.com


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The Exceptionals, By Erin Cashman

In a famous family of exceptionally talented people, fifteen-year-old Claire Walker is ordinary . . . or so she leads everyone to believe. Yet the minute she steps out of line, her parents transfer her to Cambial Academy: the prestigious boarding school that her great-grandfather founded for students with supernatural abilities, or “specials”. Although Claire can’t see ghosts or move objects with her mind like the other students, she does have a special she considers too lame to admit: she can hear the thoughts of animals. Just as she is settling in, one by one the most talented students – the Exceptionals – go missing. In an attempt to find out what happened to them, Claire uncovers a dark prophecy involving a plot to destroy Cambial and a mysterious girl who can communicate with a hawk. Could she be that girl? Does the gorgeous but secretive boy she meets in the woods know more than he is letting on? After years of ignoring her special gift, Claire decides the time has come to embrace her ability . . . before it’s too late.

"From the first few paragraphs, I was hooked and read this page-turner in two sittings. Claire, the spunky and completely believable protagonist, engages the reader as she struggles to stay afloat in her new reality and make the most out of an unfortunate turn of events... Even though Cambial Academy and its extraordinary students are beyond normal, Cashman has created a completely believable supernatural world. I highly recommend this book because a wide range of ages (11 and up) and audiences could enjoy this read and relate to the story and characters. Its a fantastical coming of age story..."
-- http://www.swonlibraries.org/royal-reviews?a=dr&id=6489

"With it's varied and intriguing cast of characters, The Exceptionals will appeal to a wide range of readers, all of whom will be eager to see if there will be forthcoming adventures at Cambial Academy" -- School Library Journal


 http://www.amazon.com/Exceptionals-Erin-Cashman/dp/0823423352

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The Underside of Joy, by  Seré Prince Halverson



A stepmother fights for custody of her two young stepchildren after their father dies and their biological mother who abandoned them returns to claim them.




“Set aside a full evening to read Seré Prince Halverson’s first novel, the engrossing and keenly affecting The Underside of Joy; once you’ve started, you’ll be all in.” –Dallas Morning News

“There are no villains here; just two women who love these children dearly. The wonderful characters and beautiful writing make this debut novel a rewarding read.—Minneapolis Star Tribune





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Monarch Beach, by Anita Hughes




Monarch Beach is the story of a young San Francisco heiress who discovers her French chef husband is cheating on her, and escapes to the St. Regis, Monarch Beach to chart a new road to happiness.




"Perfect summer reading" - Booklist

"Absolutely riveting and brimming with emotion. Monarch Beach charmed me from the very first page." - Jane Porter, Author of The Good Woman.


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Night Swim, by Jessica Keener

Sixteen-year-old Sarah Kunitz lives in a posh, suburban world of 1970 Boston. From the outside, her parents' lifestyle appears enviable - a world defined by cocktail parties, expensive cars, and live-in maids to care for their children - but inside their five-bedroom house, all is not well for the Kunitz family. Coming home from school, Sarah finds her well-dressed, pill-popping mother lying disheveled on their living room couch. At night, to escape their parents' arguments, Sarah and her oldest brother, Peter, find solace in music, while her two younger brothers retreat to their rooms and imaginary lives. Any vestige of decorum and stability drains away when tragedy hits one terrible winter day. Soon after, their father, a self-absorbed, bombastic professor begins an affair with a younger colleague. Sarah, aggrieved, dives into two summer romances that lead to unforeseen consequences. In a story that will make you laugh and cry, Night Swim shows how a family, bound by heartache, learns to love again.

"This gripping first novel announces the arrival of a strong, distinct and fully evolved new voice." 
--Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize winner

"Keener's observations perfectly capture a certain kind of 1970s adolescence" 
--The Boston Globe


www.jessicakeener.com

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The Sister Queens, by Sophie Perinot


THE SISTER QUEENS weaves the tale of two 13th Century sisters separated by royal marriages—but never truly parted.  The eldest, Marguerite, becomes the Queen of France, marrying the greatest monarch of the age, Louis IX, and soon finds he is a better monarch than husband.  Her marriage will take her on a crusading adventure, but will it bring her happiness?  The second, Eleanor, becomes Queen of England with a marriage to Henry III, and quickly discovers he is a very good man but a very bad king.  She will have love but, competitive as she is, can she settle for that?




“What Philippa Gregory did for Anne and Mary Boleyn, Perinot has done for Marguerite and Eleanor of Provence. This is, without a doubt, one of the best novels I’ve read all year!” ~Michelle Moran, Author of MADAME TUSSAUD

“THE SISTER QUEENS has it all… court life, balls, rivalry, politics, love and lust; with the added element of seeming so real to the reader as though watching a film. A fantastic debut!” ~Peeking Between the Pages




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Hemingway's Girl, by Erika Robuck


When a Cuban-American woman in Key West takes a job as a maid for Ernest Hemingway to support her family, her relationships with the famous writer and a WWI veteran and boxer reveal that she may be in over her head on all fronts.



“You’ll love this robust, tender story of love, grief, and survival on Key West in the 1930s…addictive.” ~New York Times Bestselling Author Jenna Blum




“Evokes a setting of the greatest fascination…This is assured and richly enjoyable storytelling.” ~Margaret Leroy, Author of The Soldier’s Wife


www.erikarobuck.com


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The Rules of Inheritance, by Clare Bidwell Smith



Every once in a while a memoir so striking and beautifully written comes along that people can’t stop talking about it long after they’ve finished it. On a wave of buzz and praise in advance of its hardcover publication, The Rules of Inheritance quickly became beloved as a courageous and honest blueprint for how to start over. Said Interview,“Smith holds nothing back in her confessional memoir of devastation, but also of rebuilding.”






"A brave and intelligent book about big loss and even bigger love. The gritty truth and hard won grace in this beautiful memoir astonishes me." –Cheryl Strayed, New York Times bestselling author of WILD


"Gritty, poetic, and illuminating." -Oprah Magazine

http://www.amazon.com/The-Rules-Inheritance-A-Memoir/dp/0452298873/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1344878220&sr=8-1

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Hand me Down, by Melanie Thorne


A tough, tender, debut novel, in the tradition of Dorothy Allison and Janet Fitch, Hand Me Down is the unforgettable story of a girl who has never been loved best of all.



“A sad, compelling read.” –People

“Thorne populates her pages with characters who are fascinating and sharply drawn. . . . Liz is a wise, wry, wonderful heroine.” – (starred review) Kirkus, which recently named Hand Me Down one of the best books of 2012.


/http://melaniethorne.com/book/

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The Lost Saints of Tennessee, by Amy Franklin Willis


 The Lost Saints of Tennessee chronicles middle-aged Ezekiel Cooper's struggle to find his way back to his family and himself after the mysterious drowning of his twin brother."



“It is the natural voices of Franklin-Willis’s characters and the Southernsetting that carry this novel. The honest prose rises from the heart[and] . . . leaves the reader rooting for the charactersuntil the novel’s last page.”—The Boston Globe

“A riveting, hardscrabble book on the rough,hardscrabble south, which has rarely beenwritten about with such grace and compassion."—Pat Conroy

www.amyfranklin-willis.com

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The Unfinished Garden, by Barbara Claypole White



Tilly Silverberg, an English nursery owner living in the forests of North Carolina, wants the world to bugger off and leave her alone with her son, her plants, and remorse for decisions she made three years earlier—as her husband was dying.
But James Nealy has other plans. An entrepreneur battling the obsessive-compulsive disorder that estranged him from his family, James speeds into Tilly’s life convinced that only she can help him face his greatest fear: dirt.
When a family emergency lures Tilly back to rural England, James follows—tapping and counting through aviophobia. Away from home, they forge an unlikely bond. And as they work to create a garden and unearth trust, Tilly realizes she too must confront her own secret terror: that love will always end in loss.

“A fabulous debut novel, THE UNFINISHED GARDEN easily earns Romance Junkies’ highest rating of five blue ribbons and a recommended status for its unpredictable originality! So good!” Romance Junkies


“The Unfinished Garden is a powerful story of friendship and courage in the midst of frightening circumstances… I highly recommend this wonderful love story.” Bergers’ Book Reviews 


http://barbaraclaypolewhite.com

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The Plum Tree, by Ellen Marie Wiseman



THE PLUM TREE follows a young German woman through the chaos of World War II and its aftermath as she tries to save the love of her life, a Jewish man. “Bloom where you’re planted,” is the advice Christine Bolz receives from her beloved Oma. But seventeen-year-old domestic Christine knows there is a whole world waiting beyond her small German village. It’s a world she’s begun to glimpse through music, books—and through Isaac Bauerman, the cultured son of the wealthy Jewish family she works for. Yet the future she and Isaac dream of sharing faces greater challenges than their difference in stations. In the fall of 1938, Germany is changing rapidly under Hitler’s regime. Anti-Jewish posters are everywhere, dissenting talk is silenced, and a new law forbids Christine from returning to her job—and from having any relationship with Isaac. In the months and years that follow, Christine will confront the Gestapo’s wrath and the horrors of Dachau, desperate to be with the man she loves, to survive—and finally, to speak out. Set against the backdrop of the German home front, this is an unforgettable novel of courage and resolve, of the inhumanity of war, and the heartbreak and hope left in its wake. 


"Stories of WWII rarely look at the lives of the average German; Wiseman eschews the genre’s usual military conflicts in favor of the slow, inexorable pressure of daily life during wartime, lending an intimate and compelling poignancy to this intriguing debut.”—Publisher’s Weekly

"The meticulous hand-crafted detail and emotional intensity of THE PLUM TREE immersed me in Germany during its darkest hours and the ordeals its citizens had to face. A must-read for WW2 fiction aficionados--and any reader who loves a transporting story."—Jenna Blum, NYT bestselling author of Those Who Save Us and one of Oprah's Top 30 Women Writers